The present invention refers to a control valve, and in particular to a directional control valve.
A control valve of this type, especially for electropneumatic control, includes a housing with a pressure inlet port, two working ports and a vent port and accommodates a control valve wherein one working port is directly connectable to the vent port while the other working port is connectable to the vent port via the control valve.
It is known to design directional control valves of this type as sliding valves. Sliding valves with soft seals have, however, a great friction. On the other hand, seat valves are of considerable dimension and complicated structure. In general, these valves are characterized by assigning a vent to each working port. Although directional control valves have been proposed in which only one vent is provided for both working ports, such control valves do not allow to vent both working ports separately and independently from each other.